Drones used to track wildlife

Researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) and The University of Sydney (USYD) have developed a world-first radio-tracking drone to locate radio-tagged wildlife.

The system has been tested by tracking bettongs at the Mulligan’s Flat woodland sanctuary in Canberra.

According to ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society lead research, Dr Debbie Saunders, the drones have successfully detected radio transmitters weighing as little as one gram.

The robot consists of an off-the-shelf drone or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The custom-built miniature receiver and antenna provide real-time information on radio-tracked wildlife, which are mapped live on a laptop.

“The small aerial robot will allow researchers to more rapidly and accurately find tagged wildlife, gain insights into movements of some of the world’s smallest and least known species, and access areas that are otherwise inaccessible,” Saunders said.

The University of Sydney, Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) researcher, Oliver Cliff, said the technology has generated international interest.

“We’ve had interest in our system from all around the world. We are still doing some fine tuning but we’ve achieved more than has ever been done before,” he said.

“We have done more than 150 test flights and have demonstrated how the drones can find and map the locations of animals with radio tags,” he added.

The system is funded by an ARC Linkage Project Grant and Loro Parque Foundacion. It has been built and tested over the past two and a half years with Dr Robert Fitch and his team at the ACFR at the University of Sydney.

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